Henrico's new environmental center will be first public K-12 'living building'; renewed focus on school safety in Henrico after Georgia school shooting

Sep 06, 2024

Henrico Schools will open its new environmental center, for students of all grade levels, in 2026 — which will feature a green roof, solar panels, composting toilets, and more.

HCPS has not had any incidents of guns in schools since 2023, and since weapons scanners were implemented last school year, but school safety concerns are still top of mind following a recent school shooting in Georgia.

First in the world

There are only 30 “living buildings” in the world – the ultimate measure of environmental sustainability according to the International Living Future Institute. But Henrico Schools plans to add another building to that list.

The Henrico School Board approved schematic designs on Aug. 22 for a new Center for Environmental Science and Sustainability, which is set to open at the end of 2026. The building, located on a 62-acre site within the 1,184-acre Wilton Farm tract in the Varina District, will be used on a regular basis by students in Varina High School’s environmental studies specialty program as well as by HCPS students of all grade levels for field trips and outdoor learning.

Not only will the new center be just the second living building in Virginia, it also will be the first public K-12 living building in the world.

Henrico County’s Three Chopt District Supervisor Misty Whitehead was met with complicated feelings when she watched her 10-year-old son get on the bus to school the morning after a deadly school shooting at a Georgia high school.

“I know we’re all parents of Henrico County students, and it’s another day after that I had to put my kid on a bus after other children didn’t come home from their school day,” Whitehead said in an emotional speech at a Henrico Board of Supervisors retreat at Deep Run Recreation Center Sept. 5 with Henrico Schools officials. “So many of our kids are growing up where their entire scholastic lives have been in the school shooting era.”

The Sept. 4 shooting, which left two students and two teachers dead, is just one of many recent school shootings in the past few years that have prompted school divisions across the country to take stronger security measures, such as placing more police officers in schools or equipping schools with metal or weapons detectors.

The Henrico Too Smart 2 Start Coalition has received a $125,000 grant to help address youth substance abuse and the nation’s overdose epidemic.

The grant, awarded by the White House Office of National Drug Control Policy in collaboration with the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention as part of the Drug-Free Communities Support Program, was announced Wednesday by U.S. Congresswoman Jennifer McClellan (D-VA-Fourth District). The program provides grants to community-based coalitions that work to implement evidence-based prevention locally.

“We must do more to address our nation’s overdose epidemic and provide our youth with the resources they need to prevent substance use,” said McClellan.

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